I have a '98 LX. Is there an adjustment that can be made to the strength in which the wipers press to the windshield? On the down stroke of my drivers side wiper, it leaves a large unwiped area right in front of my face when it is raining. It gets worse the faster I drive. It's obvious that it is the air movement that is pulling the wiper off the glass, but if I could adjust it so it holds to the glass better, that wouldn't happen (at least as much). Is there a spring or something that holds the wiper down that can be adjusted?

Thanks,

Scott

 

The wiper is forced against the windshield by the lever arm that it's on. The blade itself helps keep the various parts of the rubber against he window. It sounds to me like your situation is not related to the lever arm but it's either the metal/plastic blade or the rubber insert that is the problem. Usually this happens as the rubber sleeve stiffens up as it gets old and doesn't "bend" with the blade when its supposed to. I'd go get a new rubber sleeve if yours is more than 1 or 2 years old and see if that helps. You might also want to bend the blade pieces to see if they are moving freely.

 

Try replacing the blade assembly. The more expensive ones aren't necessarily better, just more expensive.

The tension comes from a spring that's part of the wiper arm, but I don't think it's adjustable. Also make sure the nut that holds the arm on is secure.

 

I have brand new Trico NeoForms (entire assemblies). The first day I had them on it rained, and I couldn't see out of the windshield. My old ones did the same thing. The passenger side is fine. I'll check the nut on the arm. Any other suggestions?

 

I have the exact same problem. It's very annoying.
At slow speeds my wipers work great. The faster I go the worse they work. I get on the highway and they're really bad. I can see the force of the air actually trying to lift them off the windshield.

This happens no matter what brand of blade I use.

 

Great, so you're telling me I'm screwed? It's actually very dangerous driving like that. Sounds as though there's a design problem. I checked my nut and it's fine. I also bent the metal armtoward the windshieldhoping that would help. It didn't. I've got to come up with something that will force it against the windshield better.

 

Just use rainx that stuff works good. i put it in my washer fluid and everytime it rains i apply it to my windshield and it keeps my windshield clean.

 

Agreed, this is dangerous.

I looked around on the internet today and saw these blades that are supposed to have "Anti-Lift Spoilers".

Might be worth a try

http://www.autobarn.net/valeo-ultimate-wiper-blade.html

 

sday88,

I have exact same car as you and have never had problems with my wipers lifting in high speed. something is wrong with your wiper arm. it should be putting enough pressure on your wiper blade so that all parts of it is pressing against your windshield.

 

The spring in your wiper arm is now more or less 10 years old. I would say it has probably stretched out a bit over that time. Try going to the dealer and seeing how much a new spring is; I don't think it would be that much.
I have the same problem with my '97 DX, although not as bad as you describe. I have been thinking about replacing the spring myself since I also have new wiper blades and they still leave streaks which annoys me to no end.